One-third of NHL season now canceled; All-Star Game also lost

The continuing labor battle between NHL owners and players took its latest toll Friday as the league canceled two more weeks of scheduled games along with the 2013 All-Star Game and other festivities that were set for Columbus, Ohio in late January.

Games have now been canceled through Dec. 14, bringing the total to 422 in all, which represents more than one-third of the season. And now another marquee event has been wiped out after the league earlier canceled the Winter Classic that was set for New Year's Day at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Blue Jackets, part of the NHL's expansion phase that began play in 2000-01, were to host the All-Star contest along with its complementary weekend events for the first time on Jan. 26-27 at Nationwide Arena.

"The reality of losing more regular-season games as well as the 2013 NHL All-Star weekend in Columbus is extremely disappointing," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. "We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible."

It would appear that a 60-game season and full postseason could still be salvaged if the two sides can find some means of breaking their impasse and negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement within the next two weeks. But the NHL and the NHL Players' Association have found little common ground in a lockout that began Sept. 16 and is now 69 days old.

The latest round of negotiations ended Wednesday with the league rejecting the union's latest offer of a five-year deal based on moving toward the NHL's desired percentage share linked to hockey-related revenues instead of guaranteed real dollars.

The NHLPA agreed to a 50-50 split of revenues from the beginning of a new CBA but asked the NHL to pay $393 million over four years to "make whole" existing player contracts. The league, which wants a new deal to last six years or longer, has countered by offering $211 million over two years.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr referred to the difference in his statement, citing that two more weeks of lost games based on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's assertion of the league losing $18-20 million per day during the lockout is an amount that "far exceeds the economic gap" between the sides.

"On Wednesday, the players presented a comprehensive proposal, once again moving in the owners' direction in order to get the game back on the ice," Fehr said. "The gap that remains on the core economic issues is $182 million.

"It makes the NHL's announcement of further game cancellations, including the 2013 All-Star weekend, all the more unnecessary, and disappointing for all hockey fans – especially those in Columbus. The players remain ready to negotiate but we require a willing negotiating partner."

The Ducks were to have hosted the Chicago Blackhawks on their annual Black Friday matinee game after Thanksgiving. They've now had five more contests erased and 28 in all, 16 of which were dates at Honda Center that include four consecutive games from Dec. 5-13.

Meanwhile, the Kings have had 29 games canceled and have yet to have the opportunity to unfurl their first Stanley Cup championship banner inside Staples Center.

Player anger continues to rise, particularly after the latest union offer to negotiate off the league's preferred revenue system model was largely dismissed. Bettman has been the target of their vitriol, mainly due to the threat of a $1 million fine for any team that speaks publicly about the ongoing lockout.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ian White called Bettman an "idiot" and Florida Panthers winger Kris Versteeg referred to him and Daly as "cancers" who've been "looting this game for far too long."

Dallas Stars forward Ray Whitney, who has been through four work stoppages, told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun that those in charge of the league are "not really hockey people" who are "like schoolyard bullies right now." But players have also shied away from criticizing the owners of their own teams.

Several Ducks working out at Anaheim Ice chimed in with their thoughts to the Register's Tanya Lyon earlier this week. Ryan Getzlaf contends that the NHL has its own timetable to settle the labor dispute on its terms while Teemu Selanne reiterated that he would strongly consider retirement if the league were to cancel the remainder of the season.

"The league has done a lot of damage right now," Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin said. "We just keep doing it every day that we're not playing. We're losing fans."

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